Legal & General Group Plc Has $9.77 Million Stock Holdings in ESCO Technologies Inc. (NYSE:ESE)

Legal & General Group Plc reduced its position in ESCO Technologies Inc. (NYSE:ESE) by 1.8% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 73,347 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after selling 1,327 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc’s holdings in ESCO Technologies were worth $9,771,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its holdings in ESCO Technologies by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 29,840 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $3,975,000 after buying an additional 384 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of ESCO Technologies by 5.3% during the 3rd quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 2,477 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $320,000 after acquiring an additional 124 shares during the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of ESCO Technologies by 378.8% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 565 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $75,000 after purchasing an additional 447 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of ESCO Technologies by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 125,266 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $16,687,000 after purchasing an additional 3,562 shares during the period. Finally, Atria Investments Inc bought a new position in shares of ESCO Technologies in the 4th quarter worth $267,000. Institutional investors own 95.70% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ESE has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $175.00 price objective on shares of ESCO Technologies in a report on Thursday, February 27th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of ESCO Technologies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Benchmark boosted their price objective on shares of ESCO Technologies from $150.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th.

ESCO Technologies Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of ESCO Technologies stock opened at $151.28 on Friday. ESCO Technologies Inc. has a 1 year low of $97.36 and a 1 year high of $171.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 2.04 and a quick ratio of 1.35. The company has a market capitalization of $3.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.51 and a beta of 1.07. The business has a 50-day moving average of $157.73 and a two-hundred day moving average of $143.22.

ESCO Technologies (NYSE:ESE) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.07 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.73 by $0.34. ESCO Technologies had a net margin of 10.44% and a return on equity of 9.91%. As a group, equities analysts predict that ESCO Technologies Inc. will post 5.65 EPS for the current year.

ESCO Technologies Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 17th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 2nd were paid a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.21%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, April 2nd. ESCO Technologies’s payout ratio is presently 7.51%.

ESCO Technologies Profile

ESCO Technologies Inc produces and supplies engineered products and systems for industrial and commercial markets worldwide. It operates through three segments: Aerospace & Defense, Utility Solutions Group, and RF Test & Measurement. The Aerospace & Defense segment designs and manufactures filtration products, including hydraulic filter elements and fluid control devices used in commercial aerospace applications; filter mechanisms used in micro-propulsion devices for satellites; and custom designed filters for manned aircraft and submarines.